How to Grade for Learning Presented by Ken

How to Grade for Learning Presented by Ken O’Connor Assess for Success Consulting kenoc@aol. com 1 2004 - Version 1. 0 C © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Agenda 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Introduction Terminology Why Grade? Perspectives on Grading Practices and Issues Guidelines for Grading Summary and Reflections 2 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

The Essential Question(s) How confident are you that the grades students get in your school are: consistent accurate meaningful, and supportive of learning? 4 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Enduring Understandings 1. There are no right grades only 2. justifiable grades. 3. 2. Nothing really changes till the 4. grade book and the report card 5. both change. 5 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Policy + Principles + Practicality = Implementation 6 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

“. . . (grading) practices are not the result of careful thought or sound evidence, . . . rather, they are used because teachers experienced these practices as students and, having little training or experience with other options, continue their use. ” Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating Student Learning: The 1996 ASCD Yearbook, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 20 7 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

“The real voyage of discovery consists not of seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. ” Marcel Proust 8 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Why Outcomes-Based Grading and Reporting? 1. Mandate 2. Supports learning 3. Improves communication 4. Consistency/Fairness 9 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

“Terms (are) frequently used interchangeably, although they (should) have distinct meanings. ” Mc. Tighe, J. , and Ferrara, S. , “Assessing Learning in the Classroom”, Journal of Quality Learning, December 1995, 11 © Ken O’Connor, 2004 10

What Do These Terms Mean? MARK(S)/SCORE(S) (marking/scoring) the number (or letter) "score" given to any student test or performance 7/ 4 10 3 11 12 2 1 GRADE(S) (grading) A 91 4 E the number (or letter) reported at the B 78 3 G end of a period of time as a summary C 64 2 S statement of student performance D 57 1 N F 42 11 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Purposes for Grading • Communicate the achievement status of students to parents, (students) and others. • Provide information that students can use for self-evaluation. • Select, identify, or group students for certain educational paths or programs. • Provide incentives to learn. • Evaluate the effectiveness of instructional programs 12 Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating Student Learning: The 1996 ASCD Yearbook, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 17 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

“the primary purpose for grading. . . should be to communicate with students and parents about their achievement of learning goals. . Secondary purposes for grading include providing teachers with information for instructional planning, . . . and providing teachers, administrators, parents, and students with information for. . placement of students. (5) “It is very difficult for one measure to serve different purposes equally well. ” (21) “The main difficulty driving grading issues both historically and currently is that grades are pressed to serve a variety of conflicting purposes. ” (31) Brookhart, S. , Grading, Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, Columbus, OH, 2004 © Ken O’Connor, 2004 13

Perspectives on Grading 1. Grading is not essential for learning 2. Grading is complicated 3. Grading is subjective/emotional 4. Grading is inescapable 5. There is not much “pure”research on grading practices 6. No single best grading practice 7. Faulty grading damages students and teachers 14 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Grading Issues • • • Basis for Grades Performance Standards - how well Ingredients - achievement, ability, effort, attitude/behavior Sources of Information - methods, purposes How recent - all or some data Number Crunching Assessment Quality Record Keeping Student understanding/involvement Guidelines for Grading 15 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guidelines for Grading 1. Relate grading procedures to the intended learning goals, i. e. , standards, expectations, outcomes, etc. 2. Use criterion-referenced standards as reference points to distribute grades. 3. Limit the valued attributes included in grades to individual achievement. 4. Sample student performance - don't include all scores in grades 5. “Grade in pencil” - keep records so they can be updated easily. 6. “Crunch" numbers carefully - if at all. 7. Use quality assessment(s) and properly recorded evidence of achievement. 8. Discuss and involve students in assessment, including grading throughout the teaching/learning process. © Ken O’Connor, 2004 16

Guideline #1 Traditional Guideline For Middle School Student Grading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Evaluation Category Quizzes/Tests/Exams Written Assignments Creative or explanatory paragraphs, essays, notes, organizers, writing folios or portfolios Oral Presentations or Demonstrations Brief or more formal presentations or demonstrations, role-playing, debates, skits etc. Projects/Assignments Research tasks, hands-on projects, video or audio tape productions, analysis of issues etc. Co-operative Group Learning Evaluation of the process and skills learned as an individual and as a group member Independent Learning Individual organizational skills, contributions to class activities and discussions, homework, notebooks Expected % Range 20 -30% 15 -25% 10 -20% 5 -15% 5 - 15% 70 -130% © Ken O’Connor, 2004 20

Guideline #1 Stiggins, et al, Classroom Assessment for Student Learning, ATI, Portland, OR, 2004, 289 7 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #1 Stiggins, et al, Classroom Assessment for Student Learning, ATI, Portland, OR, 2004, 289 8 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #1 25 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #1 “The use of columns in a grade book to represent standards, instead of assignments, tests, and activities, is a major shift in thinking. . . Under this system, when an assessment is designed, the teacher must think in terms of the standards it is intended to address. If a (test) is given that covers three standards, then the teacher makes three entries in the grade book for each student - one entry for each standard - as opposed to one overall entry for the entire (test). Marzano, R. , and J. Kendall, A Comprehensive Guide to Developing Standards-Based Districts, Schools, and Classrooms, Mc. REL, Aurora, CO, 1996, 150 26 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #1 “Systems that are aligned - curriculum, teaching, and assessment - have a greater chance of success for students. ” 27 Glenda Lappan, NCTM News Bulletin, October, 1998 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #1 “The principal limitation of any grading system that requires the teacher to assign one number or letter to represent. . . learning is that one symbol can convey only one meaning. . One symbol cannot do justice to the different degrees of learning a student acquires across all learning outcomes. ” 28 Tombari and Borich, Authentic Assessment in the Classroom, Prentice Hall, 1999, 213 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #2 a “Performance standards specify ‘how good is good enough. ’ They relate to issues of assessment that gauge the degree to which content standards have been attained. . They are indices of quality that specify how adept or competent a student demonstration should be. ” 29 Kendall, J. , and R. Marzano, Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education, First Edition, Mc. REL, 1997, 16 -17 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #2 a 71 O’Connor, K. , How to Grade for Learning, Second Edition, Corwin, 2002, 71 30 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #2 a Grading Scales Letter Ontario Ruth E* A 80 -100 90 -100 B 70 -79 80 -89 C 60 -69 70 -79 D 50 -59 60 -69 F ≤ 50 ≤ 60 Rick W* 93 -100 85 -92 78 -84 70 -77 ≤ 70 Pam P* 95 -100 85 -94 75 -84 65 -74 ≤ 65 R. L. Canady** 95 -100 88 -94 81 -87 75 -80 ≤ 75 * from the World Wide Web - The School House Teachers’ Lounge * Quoted by Canady and Hotchkiss, Kappan, Sept. 1989, 69 31 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #2 a 75 32 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #2 a 33 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #2 a 34 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #2 a For classroom assessment Performance Standards = performance descriptors (school, district, state or provincial e. g. , A B C D; 4 3 2 1; E M N U) scoring tools (rubrics, etc) + work samples (exemplars) + commentaries on the work samples Adapted from New Standards Sampler, National Center on Education and the Economy, www. ncee. org 35 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #2 b What do you think would happen if you did an outstanding job, all the students in your class did an outstanding job, and all the students received a grade of 86% or higher? 39 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #2 b “grading on the curve makes learning a highly competitive activity in which students compete against one another for the few scarce rewards(high grades) distributed by the teacher. Under these conditions, students readily see that helping others become successful threatens their own chances for success. As a result, learning becomes a game of winners and losers; and because the number of rewards is kept arbitrarily small, most students are forced to be losers. ” Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating Student Learning: The 1996 ASCD Yearbook), ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 18 -19 40 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #3 a “. . . grades often reflect a combination of achievement, progress, and other factors. . this tendency to collapse several independent elements into a single grade may blur their meaning. ” Bailey, J. and Mc. Tighe, J. , “Reporting Achievement at the Secondary School Level: What and How? ”, in T. R. Guskey, (Ed. ) Communicating Student Learning: ASCD Yearbook 1996, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 121 41 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #3 a Sum total of everything students do in school/classroom Select a representative sampling of what students do Process Assessment of students using observation over time e. g. • • • • learning logs journals portfolios teacher observations/anecdotal notes Attitude/Learning Skills/Effort enjoys learning questions/investigates class participation works independently completes assignments completes research/projects cooperates with others respects others resolves conflicts attendance, punctuality reflects and sets goals Reporting Variables (Desirable Behaviours) Product Assessment tasks e. g. • performances Assessment tasks, • Product presentations Assessment Tasks tests/quizzes/examinations e. g. • performances • • culminating demonstrations e. g. • • presentations performances • tests/quiz • presentations • culminating demonstration • tests/quizzes/examination • culminating demonstration ACHIEVEMENT Report Card Grading Variables (Outcomes) O’Connor, K. , How to Grade for Learning, Second Edition, Corwin, 2002, 42 © Ken O’Connor, 2004 42

Guideline #3 a 222 43 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #3 b “Group grades are so blatantly unfair that on this basis alone they should never be used. ” Kagan, S. “Group Grades Miss the Mark, ” Educational Leadership, May, 1995, 69 46 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #3 b Kagan’s 7 reasons for opposing group grades 1. no(t) fair 2. debase report cards 3. undermine motivation 4. convey the wrong message 5. violate individual accountability 6. are responsible for resistance to cooperative learning 7. may be challenged in court. 47 Kagan, S. “Group Grades Miss the Mark, ” Educational Leadership, May, 1995, 68 -71 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #3 b “No student’s grade should depend on the achievement ( or behavior) of other students. ” Source: William Glasser 48 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #4 Diagnostic - assessment which takes place prior to instruction; designed to determine a student's attitude, skills or knowledge in order to identify student needs. Formative - Assessment designed to provide direction for improvement and/or adjustment to a program for individual students or for a whole class, e. g. observation, quizzes, homework, instructional questions, initial drafts/attempts. Summative - Assessment/evaluation designed to provide information to be used in making judgment about a student’s achievement at the end of a sequence of instruction, e. g. final drafts/attempts, tests, exams, assignments, projects, performances. 49 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #4 “The ongoing interplay between assessment and instruction, so common in the arts and athletics, is also evident in classrooms using practices such as nongraded quizzes and practice tests, the writing process, formative performance tasks, review of drafts and peer response groups. The teachers in such classrooms recognize that ongoing assessments provide feedback that enhances instruction and guides student revision. ” Jay Mc. Tighe, “What Happens Between Assessments, ” Educational Leadership, Dec. ‘ 96 -Jan. ‘ 97, 11 50 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #4 “The thrust of formative assessment is toward improving learning and instruction. Therefore, the information should not be used for assigning “marks”as the assessment often occurs before students have had full opportunities to learn content or develop skills. ” Manitoba Education and Training, Reporting on Student Progress and Achievement: A Policy Handbook for Teachers, Administrators and Parents. Winnipeg, 1997, 9 51 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #4 Students should be assessed or checked on everything (or almost everything) they do BUT everything that is assessed and/or checked does not need a score AND every score should not be included in the grade. 52 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #4 Firm evidence shows that formative assessment is an essential component of classroom work and that its development can raise standards of achievement, Mr. Black and Mr. Wiliam point out. Indeed, they know of no other way of raising standards for which such a strong prima facie case can be made. Black, P. and D. Wiliam, “Inside the Black Box, ” Kappan, October 1998, 139 53 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #4 “The research indicates that improving learning through assessment depends on five, deceptively simple, key factors: The provision of effective feedback to students The active involvement of students in their own learning • Adjusting teaching to take account of the results of assessment A recognition of the profound influence assessment has on the motivation and self- esteem of students, both of which are crucial influences on learning • The need for students to be able to assess themselves and understand how to improve” 54 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #4 Purposes of Homework PRACTICE - to reinforce learning and help students master specific skills. PREPARATION - introduces material presented in future lessons. These assignments aim to help students learn new material when it is covered in class. EXTENSION - asks students to apply skills they already have in new situations. INTEGRATION - requires students to apply many different skills to a large task, such as book reports, projects, creative writing. Source: NCLB website - Homework Tips for Parents 55 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #4 Sample Assessment Plan Formative Assessment for Unit 1 Summative Assessment for Unit 1 56 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #5 The key question is, “What information provides the most accurate depiction of students’ learning at this time? ” In nearly all cases, the answer is “the most current information. ” If students demonstrate that past assessment information no longer accurately reflects their learning, that information must be dropped and replaced by the new information. Continuing to rely on past assessment data miscommunicates students’ learning. 57 Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating Student Learning: The 1996 ASCD Yearbook, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 21 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #5 “. . . final grades should never be determined by simply averaging the grades from several grading periods (e. g. , adding the grades from terms one through three and dividing by three). ” (exception - discrete standards/content) O’Connor, K. , How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards, Second Edition, Corwin, 2002, 135 59 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #6 “Averaging falls far short of providing an accurate description of what students have learned. . If the purpose of grading and reporting is to provide an accurate description of what students have learned, then averaging must be considered inadequate and inappropriate”. Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating Student Learning: The 1996 ASCD Yearbook, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 21 61 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #6 “Educators must abandon the average, or arithmetic mean, as the predominant measurement of student achievement. ” Reeves, D. , “Standards are Not Enough: Essential Transformations for School Success, ” NASSP Bulletin, Dec. 2000, 10 62 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #6 Letter to the Editor - Toronto Globe and Mail October 15, 2003 Whenever I hear statistics being quoted I am reminded of the statistician who drowned while wading across a river with an average depth of three feet. GORDON Mc. MANN Campbell River, B. C. 63 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #6 Total 89 89 89 20 89 89 752 Mean or Average =

Guideline #6 "Grading by the median provides more opportunities for success by diminishing the impact of a few stumbles and by rewarding hard work. " Wright, Russell. G. , "Success for All: The Median is the Key", Kappan, May 1994, 723 -725 65 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #6 “Data should be used to INFORM not determine decisions” Management Consultant, The Hay Group, personal conversation, January 2002 66 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #6 The Effect of Zeros 4 3 2 1 0 2 5 pt scale (A) (B) (C) (D) (F) (C) 101 point scale 90 -100 11 95 80 -89 10 85 70 -79 10 75 60 -69 10 65 <60 60 0 64 (D) 95 85 75 65 50 74 (C) 69 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #6 101 point scale 95 0 0 0 85 0 0 80 0 0 260 Mean 26 Letter Grade F What grade should this student get? 5 point scale 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 10 1. 0 D 70 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #6 “The use of an I or “Incomplete” grade is an alternative to assigning zeros that is both educationally sound and potentially quite effective. ” Guskey and Bailey, Developing Grading and Reporting Systems for Student Learning, Corwin Press, 2001, 144 71 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #7 Five Quality Standards for Assessment • appropriate and clear target • clear purpose • method(s) matched to target and purpose • appropriate sample of the learning domain • control for all sources of interference Based on the ideas of Rick Stiggins 75 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #7 Common Sources of Bias and Distortion Problems that can occur with the student Lack of reading skill Emotional upset Poor health Lack of testwiseness Evaluation anxiety Problems that can occur with the setting Physical conditions – light, heat, noise, etc. Problems that can occur with the assessment itself Directions lacking or unclear Poorly worded questions/prompts Insufficient time Based on the ideas of Rick Stiggins 76 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #7 “Nothing of consequence would be lost by getting rid of timed tests by the College Board or, indeed, by (schools) in general. Few tasks in life — and very few tasks in scholarship — actually depend on being able to read passages or solve math problems rapidly. As a teacher, I want my students to read, write and think well; I don't care how much time they spend on their assignments. For those few jobs where speed is important, timed tests may be useful. ” Howard Gardner, “Testing for Aptitude, Not for Speed, ” New York Times, July 18, 2002 77 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Guideline #8 Motivating Students Towards Excellence Rick Stiggins believes student-involved assessment is the route to follow. It includes: * student involvement in the construction of assessments and in the development of criteria for success; * students keeping records of their own achievement and growth through such strategies as portfolios; and * students communicating their achievement through such vehicles as student-involved parent conferences 78 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

Grades should come from a body of evidence + performance + guidelines standards i. e. , professional judgment NOT just number crunching 82 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

To evaluate or judge is to reach “a sensible conclusion that is consistent with both evidence and common sense” Robert Linn, UCLA/CRESST 83 © Ken O’Connor, 2004

To be truly outcomes-based in grading one MUST Ø separate achievement from behaviours Ø not include formative assessment, and Ø emphasize more recent achievement. Remember: there are NO right grades, there are only justifiable grades! 84 © Ken O’Connor, 2004